Suge Knight Takes Fight|With Chris Brown to Court

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Jailed rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight sued controversial rapper Chris Brown on Monday, and the Sunset Strip nightclub where Knight was shot seven times at a 2014 party Brown hosted. Knight, who is in custody awaiting trial on murder charges, claims that nightclub 1 Oak Los Angeles, Brown and co-defendant singer Pia Mia Perez should have prevented guests from bringing guns to the party. After all, according to the Superior Court complaint: “Brown was a known gang associate with a history of violence and had a well-documented track record of hosting events and or parties in which violence frequently erupted.” A major R&B star, Brown is as well known for his violent outbursts as for his music. He spent five years on probation for the 2009 beating of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna. Last week, Brown’s former personal manager sued him on charges of assault and battery. Brown is not a suspect in Knight’s shooting. He and Perez, known professionally as Pia Mia, hosted a party at the club on Aug. 23 before the MTV Music Video Awards. Knight, the founder of Death Row Records, was one of the guests. Late that night, someone at the party shot and wounded Knight, another man and a young woman. Knight was struck seven times in the chest, abdomen and left forearm, he says in the lawsuit. News accounts say Knight walked outside and waited for an ambulance. The shooter apparently has not been arrested, at least in part because Knight and other witnesses have not cooperated with police, according to news reports. But Knight says the nightclub owners and Brown and Perez “had a duty to provide adequate security to ensure that those entering the [party] were not carrying weapons and or firearms.” They were well aware, he says, of Brown’s “documented past and the high likelihood of violence including the possession and or use of firearms by those attending the event.” As hosts, Brown and Perez “had a personal obligation to ensure security was adequate,” the complaint states. Knight says they breached their duty by failing to provide enough security at every entrance and failing to warn him. “As a foreseeable result, gunshots were fired by those admitted into the event and plaintiff was shot and seriously injured,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff was unarmed and unaware that the defendants allowed individuals to enter the property carrying weapons and as a result was shot numerous times after being invited onto the subject premises by defendants.” Knight seeks general and special damages of at least $25,000 for premises liability and negligence. Knight faces trial next year on charges he murdered one man and injured a second in January 2015 by running them over with his truck after an argument near the film set of “Straight Outta Compton.” A former defense attorney has suggested in court documents that the shooting at the 2014 party had left Knight in a fragile emotional state, causing him to fear for his life during the argument, according to news reports. His attorney in the new lawsuit, Jamal Tooson with Lessem, Newstat and Tooson in Sherman Oaks also represents Knight in the murder case. Neither Tooson nor his partner Jeremy I. Lessem responded to a message about the case late Monday. A representative of the nightclub could not be reached for comment.